WhatsApp users have expressed frustration at the fact that there is no way to remove the new Meta AI chatbot feature from the messaging app, raising concerns that the company is seeking to use their private chats to train the bot.
Meta says the AI chatbot can’t read messages unless one of the chat participants chooses to share it, but adds that the company is “listening to feedback” from users …
Some users are seeing a new Meta AI logo in the chats screen, while others have an ‘Ask Meta AI or Search’ prompt in the search bar. There is currently no way to remove either.
Many users are expressing their frustration at what they see as an unwanted intrusion, with Guardian columnist Polly Hudson among those to object. She likened it to the time Apple annoyed everyone by adding a U2 album to their devices.
At least it was possible to delete that free U2 album that Apple foisted on its customers in 2014; there is no way to remove Meta AI from WhatsApp. I didn’t – don’t – want Meta AI. If I liked it, I would have put the ring on it. But I don’t, so I didn’t. I have not given consent. How dare they? […]
Although the omnipotent shape hasn’t reached everyone’s phones yet, the internet is full of people ranting, mostly about their inability to deactivate it.
WhatsApp chats are protected by end-to-end encryption, meaning that the Meta AI cannot access messages directly – but chat participants can share chats with the bot. The sharing feature raises concerns that Meta may be wanting to use chat content as training for its model, without the consent of all participants.
The company is already under fire for a wide range of unethical AI training practices, including scraping all public Facebook and Instagram posts since 2007, and using ebooks pirated from torrents.
Meta told BBC News that it’s listening to these concerns.
WhatsApp says its new AI feature embedded in the messaging service is “entirely optional” – despite the fact it cannot be removed from the app […]
“We think giving people these options is a good thing and we’re always listening to feedback from our users,” WhatsApp told the BBC […]
Meta says the feature is only being rolled out to some countries at the moment and advises it “might not be available to you yet, even if other users in your country have access”.
9to5Mac’s Take
Having a prominent UI element for a feature you never use is annoying at the best of times, more so when it’s AI and people are increasingly fed up of the AI-ification of everything.
But given Meta’s appalling privacy record over a great many years, it’s not surprising that mild irritation is spilling over into outright anger. Just give us an option to remove it already.
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